The girls were watching part of the Scooby Doo marathon tonight, and a commercial came on for those McDonald's Happy Meal Legion of Superheroes toys I've read about on the internet. I mentioned to them that, for some reason, none of the female Legionnaires were included. Just to get an opinion.
They both looked at me, surprised that I'd find it surprising because, as the twelve-year-old said, "The Legion toys are the boy toys."
And she's right. I hadn't taken them to McDonald's in a long time--we don't get a lot of fast food, and when we do it's Burger King more often than not. I had totally forgotten about McDonald's gender-specific toy thing.
When we buy a Burger King kid's meal, they have one choice of toy (I think it's Simpsons movie stuff right now).
McDonald's, on the other hand, always offers a choice of two different toys. There is always a "boy toy" and a "girl toy." They don't call them that, of course, but that's what it is--for example, either a miniature Barbie or a Hot Wheels car. (When that was the choice, the girls would usually get the car--it was a real toy, the Barbie really wasn't.)
So, this time the "boy toys" are the Legion figures. (The "girl toy" is Build a Bear, whatever that is.)
Neither girl was at all surprised that there were no girl Legionnaires included in the set, because that selection of toys was intended primarily for boys.
That doesn't mean that either girl would want the damn Build a Bear. Both of them would far prefer the Legion toys, despite the fact that neither watches the show (we don't get the channel it's shown on).
I'm not sure whether it's more troubling that both of my daughters have, apparently, accepted that they are a fringe element of the fan base of something they enjoy, or that McDonald's has decided that boys won't play with a toy shaped like a female character on a show they presumably watch and enjoy.
So, for those who are irked at the lack of girl Legionnaires, apparently there's a reason for it. Just not a particularly good one.
5 comments:
Both are troubling :(
Considering that of all Superhero groups (except maybe BoP), the LoS prolly has the MOST women for it's size, and many of them in important positions (such as Saturn Girl) or who play recurring and key roles, it's SO DUMB that they would have 0 girl chars in their McDonalds toy line up. :(
But sadly it is the boy/girl blue/pink thing :( Even tho we've made a lot of progress on the upper end of pop culture, I think on the "younger end", like for kids toys, it's still very blue/pink "this is not for you, this is". :(
Side thought: I wonder if this decision has more to do with either DC, Cartoon Network, or whoever manufactures regular LOS toys, rather than McDonalds itself.
I'd bet (given even odds) they have their boy/girl happy meals set up like they do because that's how the toy companies that license the promotional Happy Meal toys mostly want to market their stuff.
Meh. Tell the kids not to feel too bad: I took my oldest the other day, and we both got Timber Wolf. I was lucky to get my favorite Legionaire, but they aren't great toys, even by Happy Meal standards. Weird book-like package too, which seemed kind of wasteful. Still, when I first started reading Legion like twenty-plus years ago, I never would've bet on a McDonalds toy for them, ever.
My favorite fast food toys of this year? Probably the Burger King Fantastic Four, but I only got the Thing and the Surfer there.
Actually, McDonald's does (at least locally) call them "boy" and "girl" toys. I've gotten Happy Meals about twice in the past year, both times I was asked if I wanted the boy or girl toy. The first time was Boy, it was a dinosaur-robot toy; the second time was Girl, girl=Hello Kitty.
I drove through McDonald's yesterday and ordered a Happy Meal. They asked if I wanted a boy toy or a girl toy. I was horrified that they're still asking that stupid question. Why cannot they ask "Would you like a bear or a truck?" As a young girl, I much preferred playing with the next door neighbor's trucks. Why do they have to make a child feel it's wrong to want to play with a toy? Why can't a little boy want to play with a bear or a doll? Why can't a little girl want to play with a truck or a superhero? Anyway, I complained to the manager - just as I did 20 years ago when my daughter was 3, and my son was an infant.
Post a Comment